Braunvieh_World_Winter_2022

Jan. 1, 2022. This is a date that you will notice is repeated several times throughout these pages. It is a date that will bring many changes within the Braunvieh Association of America (BAA). Here, we will be going over some of the more important rule changes such as Braunvieh percentages, membership types and – you guessed it – fee changes. EXPLAINED By Heather Lange, Director of Office Operations, Registrations and DNA BRAUNVIEH ASSOCIATION OF AMERICA NEW RULES

First up, memberships. As of Jan. 1, 2022, membership is a require- ment to register any cattle with the BAA. There are three types of mem- berships within our association:  Active Memberships ($85 per year): for members older than 21 years of age who wish to register cattle and have full voting privi- leges.  Associate Memberships ($50 per year): for those interested in the advancement of Braunvieh cattle but do not intend to regis- ter any cattle.  Junior Memberships ($25 per year): for members younger than 21 years of age who wish to register cattle and will also become a voting member of the Junior Braunvieh Association of America (JBAA). Our website, braunvieh.org , has links for you to sign up through the online portal or print a paper version to mail in. You can also contact the office to be sent paper copies of mem- bership applications. Memberships are due (renewed/ paid for) by March 31 of each year. Any memberships not paid by this date will be considered non-members and they must rejoin the BAA as a new member as well as a Total Herd Reporting (THR) breeder. This brings us to big change No. 2. Within the Active and Junior

BAA memberships, the Performance Option Program (POP) has become a thing of the past and has been replaced with THR. Members will need to decide if they want to be a THR breeder or a Traditional Con- cept (TC) breeder by Jan. 1, 2022. If this distinction hasn’t been made by the breeder, those who were previ- ously POP breeders will automatically become THR breeders, and previous non-POP breeders will become TC breeders. If a TC breeder wishes to switch to a THR breeder, they simply need to notify the office. However, once you have been made a THR breeder, you are not allowed to switch back to being a TC breeder. TC breeders (similar to non-POP) will be grandfathered in as such and will be permitted to stay a TC breeder as long as their membership stays up to date. Any TC breeder wishing to register animals but whose member- ship has lapsed after March 31 of any given year will be considered a non- member and must rejoin the BAA as a THR breeder. Only THR breeders will receive EPDs on their animals. THR breeders should have received their first THR assessment in Decem- ber 2021. This differs from the POP assessments in that THR assess- ments are required to be completed on your total herd . The purpose of the assessment is to clean up your female inventory as well as increase

performance and registration data accuracies within your herd. The more performance data turned in on the entire herd drastically increases the expected progeny difference (EPD) accuracy of the entire breed. With the assessment, you will get rid of any females that are no longer active in your herd (there is a list of disposal codes provided with assess- ments). There are special codes to give your virgin heifers, donor dams and non-Braunvieh cows because they are exempt from being assessed if they aren’t bred to have a natural Braunvieh calf in the calendar year. The assessment must be completed in its entirety for the year before any calf from that calendar year can be recorded. If you choose to cull your cows and make them inactive with the thought of just assessing them the next year, you have that option, too. However, there is a $30 reacti- vation fee on top of the assessment fee to bring her back. Below is a fee schedule for the THR assessments:  Assessments completed Dec. 1-Jan. 31 = $7 per head  Assessments completed Feb. 1-April 30 = $10 per head  Assessments completed after May 1 = $15 per head Please note that whatever assess- ment rate you pay initially for the calendar year is the same rate that you will get throughout the year. For example, if you complete your THR assessment Dec. 15 for the $7-per- head rate and then, in June, you add a commercial cow to your inventory to register a Beef Builder calf, you can assess that commercial cow for the same $7 rate that you paid

TOTAL HERD REPORTING (THR) TRADITIONAL CONCEPT (TC)

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Braunvieh World  Winter 2022